Reports of a Heated Trump–Netanyahu Phone Row over Iran; Tel Aviv Calls It ‘Fake News’
Differences between the United States and Israel over Iran are becoming increasingly visible. Against that backdrop, reports say a phone call between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu turned sharply tense, with a heated exchange of words. Netanyahu's office, however, has dismissed the report as ‘fake news and completely baseless’. The information came from an NDTV World report on Thursday (13 November).
According to the report, the main subject of the call between the two leaders last weekend was the Iran war. A clear disagreement emerged over whether to launch a new military attack on Iran. A Ynet News report described the conversation as a hellish, heated argument.
Reports of disagreement between the two leaders over the Iran conflict have surfaced before. Last June, after differences on several issues, Trump told the New York Post that in one phone call he had called Netanyahu ‘mad’.
Meanwhile, in a speech at the swearing-in of Israel's 26th Knesset on Tuesday, Netanyahu restated his hard line on Iran. He claimed Iran is again trying to build nuclear capability. In his view, bringing about the fall of the regime led by Iran's supreme religious leaders is the only way to permanently remove the country's threat.
Netanyahu warned that in future Israel could face international pressure to accept a nuclear-armed Iran. He also expressed concern that pressure could come to give up recent military gains in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank.
Trump, by contrast, has taken a position in favour of continuing diplomatic talks and economic pressure instead of immediate military action against Iran. Bringing Iran to the negotiating table to extract concessions is seen as his current strategy.
Citing a person familiar with the talks, a Financial Times report said Netanyahu has been phoning Trump to press him to restart the war. But there are parties inside and outside the White House who do not want a new war. The report added that, according to the source involved, no strong initiative has yet been taken to persuade Trump, even though Netanyahu is keen to resume military operations against Iran.
Leaders of Arab and Muslim countries are worried about a renewed war against Iran. They fear that if the conflict resumes, instability across the Middle East will grow further. Leaders of various Middle Eastern countries are also advising Trump to prioritise talks rather than raise tensions.
In a recent interview on CBS's ‘60 Minutes’, Trump was asked whether he would start a war against Iran again. He replied that he sees no reason to start a war at this moment.
All in all, analysts believe the strategic distance between Washington and Tel Aviv over Iran is growing. While Netanyahu sees military operations and the fall of Iran's current regime as the solution, Trump for now is interested in handling the crisis through economic pressure and diplomatic negotiation.
